Charlotte, North Carolina-based Nucor’s Consumer Spot Price (CSP) -the posted base price it charges for hot-rolled coils (HRC) across all of its regional mills- was reported higher for an eighth week today, posting at $1,010/nt ($1,113/mt), or $50.50/cwt., on an FOB mill basis, up $5/nt from the $1,005/nt ($1,108/mt), or $50.25/cwt., the mill reported seven days earlier.
Nucor’s California Steel Industries (CSI) base price, also rose another $5/nt this week to $1,060/nt ($1,168/nt), or $53.00/cwt., FOB mill, up from $1,055/nt ($1,163/mt), or $52.75/cwt., reported seven days earlier, Nucor said in its weekly letter to customers.
And while this week’s Nucor CSP and CSI prices rose less than a week earlier -when both prices rose $15/nt- market insiders said many of the same supportive fundamentals remain in play for HRC markets, among them strong US scrap prices, low imports as a result of ongoing Section 232 steel tariffs, and continued reports of full order books and backlogs spurred by longer lead times at domestic mills. Nucor's CSP and CSI prices are supported by lead times of 3-5 weeks, Nucor said in its weekly letter.
On March 6, SteelOrbis reported US scrap prices settled sideways or flat to February price levels across all steel scrap grades. Between December and March, Midwest Ohio Valley shredded scrap, most often quoted as a primary input in US flat steel production, increased from on average $385-390/gt, ($390-395/mt), on a delivered to mill or, delivered at place (DAP) basis, to $445-450/gt ($452-457/mt), a rise of more than 15 percent.
Steel market insiders continue to tell SteelOrbis US spot supplies of finished steel remain supported from a lack of steel imports, the result of ongoing 50 percent Section 232 steel import tariffs put in place by US President Trump in early June.
In weekly HRC spot markets, the SteelOrbis HRC price average price closed the week ended March 6 flat to week-earlier levels at $1,001/nt, ($1,103/mt), or $50.05/cwt., on an average delivered to customer basis, following an $11/nt increase seven days before.
On the import side, flat steel steel import license data from Washington, DC-based International Trade Administration’s (ITA) US Steel Import Monitors shows imports could decline sharply when actual monthly data is released. And, while actual flat steel imports for February won’t known for several months, import license requests from ITA, show flat steel import requests fell 67.4 percent for all of February to a total representing 1,400 metric tons (mt), from the 4,300 mt of equivalent import requests for January. Most steel experts agree steel import license data is a key indicator of potential steel imports in the absence of actual industry data.
